He’s a TV star who is slowly transitioning to films. He’s quite a hunk and has the rakish charm and requisite six-pack. There is no denying that Gautam Gulati has quite a presence on the screen but his career so far taken a while to pick up. He has got noticed after playing the role of Ravi Shastri in Azhar, the biopic on Mohammad Azharuddin.
Earlier, he acted in Darpok, a short movie directed by Rakesh Mehta. The film made it all the way to Cannes. He enjoyed visiting France and meeting the who’s who of the international movie fraternity.
Darpok was based on a man who grew up wanting to avenge the rape of his mother. Gautam said that he was fine acting in love stories but it was dark roles that excited him the most.
Gautam grew up in New Delhi and always wanted to be an actor. His dream was realized in the final year of college when he was offered a role in Kasam Se by Ekta Kapoor. Incidentally, he studied in the same institution where Shah Rukh Khan studied, Hansraj College. He was a fan of Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan while growing up. Then it was John Abraham who impressed him the most. He had John’s posters all over his room.
He came to Mumbai 8 years ago and acted in many Television shows. But he always wanted to work in films. He auditioned for a number of roles but faced lots of rejection. It was Ekta Kapoor who, once again, rescued him. He met with her after winning Bigg Boss and that’s when he was told about the cricket film and introduced to Tony D’Souza. He wasn’t too sure about the role since it wasn’t the lead but he soon realized that it was better to play an impactful character in a big banner production than the lead character in an obscure film. He did say that he was confident that his views were going to be respected. This is why he got the role.
Like most kids in India, he grew up watching and playing cricket. He was familiar with it. The biggest challenge he faced was getting the cricketer’s mannerisms correct. He watched a lot of archived footage of the cricketer’s matches and heard commentary too. He tried sounding and appearing authentic while commentating on screen. They even arranged a workshop to help him. He got immersed in the character for a couple of months. It did help that Shastri’s style of play was flamboyant and his personality was sophisticated. He perfected the lines and didn’t even need the dialogue sheet during filming.
Another point that worked in his favor was Emraan Hashmi who played Azhar. Gautam said that Emraan was an easy going, fun loving person and bonded instantly. It was just like a frat party whenever they weren’t shooting. They developed quite a strong chemistry and the scenes were usually shot in one take. Gautam now considers Emraan to be a friend. He hopes he can develop such a bond with all of his co-stars.
Gautam is grateful for everything that Ekta has done for him and owes his entire career to her. She is strict and chilled out. He has been very lucky till now and hopes he keeps getting good roles at regular intervals. He believes it is the blessings of his fans that have helped him reach where he is today and he doesn’t want to let them down which is why he is choosy about his roles. He feels like actors should spend the time between their roles learning new skills. He learnt gymnastics on his time off. This is how he has got his honed body. A couple of other hobbies of his are travelling and cycling.
In terms of love, he’s currently single because he hasn’t met the right girl yet. He’s looking for a simple girl who will support him through his highs and lows.
